Malcolm
Malcolm (called Malcom in UT) is a character in the Unreal series. __TOC__ Bio Malcolm is a Human combatant. He was designed by FenTech Incorporated, and participates in the Liandri Grand Tournament as a member of Thunder Crash. In Unreal Tournament, the Crash is led by Othello, and appears in the SP ladder if the player selects a team different from them. Malcolm's first appearance in the Domination ladder depends on the team the player chose. He's only fielded in matches where a fourth team member is required to fill out the Thunder Crash roster. Additionally, he is the only Thunder Crash member listed as a "Chem Killer" rather than a "Warrior". In Unreal Tournament 2003 he becomes famous for defeating longtime champion Xan Kriegor in 2293 (implying the results of a canonical Unreal Tournament storyline) and breaking Xan's undefeated winning streak. In this game, he formed a team with former rivals Brock and Lauren, but they were defeated by Gorge's Juggernaut team in the finals. The team itself plays in a team deathmatch in the semifinals, while Malcolm himself is the boss to beat in the final. In Unreal Tournament 2004, due to infighting and recrimination, this team was disbanded and they returned to their former teams (Thunder Crash and Iron Guard) as leaders; the Crash remained almost intact from Unreal Tournament (only Ryanna was left out, in her place there were three new warriors: Jakob, Taye and Picard), while Iron Guard was completely reformed. The Crash is one of the three teams the player may face in the finals, depending on how well they fared on the Ladders, and Malcolm one of the three bosses. The Crash as a team fights in the semifinals, while Malcolm himself fights in the final. In Unreal Championship 2: The Liandri Conflict, he remains champion for nine consecutive years, until his defeat at the hands of the Juggernaut Gorge in 2302 (again implying the results of a canonical UT2003 storyline), who breaks his spine in the process. Since then the Liandri uses him as color commentator in their pre-game shows. During the 523rd Nakhti Ascension Rites, he meets Anubis and invites him into Thunder Crash, but Anubis declines. Malcolm makes a cameo during most of the Ascension Rites as a commentator for the event alongside a Liandri bot, as offworlders aren't eligible for Nakhti emperorship. In a cutscene he's seen trying to get Anubis into Thunder Crash, initially getting the rejection. In Anubis's ladder, however, the emperor is seen as part of the newest incarnation of Thunder Crash alongside Lauren, Sapphire, and of course Malcolm. He has his own ladder, as well, yet it remains to be seen how much canon it is, considering that none of his matches can be found in either the Rites or Anubis's ladder, which takes place after the Rites. In Unreal Tournament 3, Malcolm doesn't appear as a playable character in this game, but is seen in cutscenes. This time, he's hired by Izanagi Corporation and is basically mission control for the Ronin team, mentoring and leading them. That is, until the Necris invasion finishes and the Ronin sets up to Omicron 6, homeworld of the Necris, in order to put a definitive end to the Necris invasion, which causes the Izanagi to disavow any kind of relationship with them. In the end it was revealed that he was behind most of the events of the game, including the raid to the Twin Souls colony. Tournaments won *2293 (Unreal Tournament) *2294 *2295 *2296 *2297 *2298 *2299 *2300 *2301 Character cards UT= |-|UT Demo= |-|UT2003= |-|UT2004= |-|UC2= |-|UT3= Physical appearance Clothing Gear Trivia * Malcolm's name is misspelt "Malcom" only in the PC version of Unreal Tournament. In the console versions, where he's also a playable character, his name is well-written, and this is also true for the rest of his appearances. * He appears in the box of many editions of Unreal Tournament and in the box of Unreal Tournament 2003. * He makes a cameo in Unreal Championship, in the same intro video that would later be the intro video of Unreal Tournament 2003. * His voice actor in Unreal Championship 2 is Patrick Amos, otherwise known as the Corporal Pierce, from Walker Texas Ranger. In Unreal Tournament 3, he's instead voiced by Greg Eagles (Gray Fox from Metal Gear Solid; Grim, from The Grim Adventures Of Billy and Mandy) Hilariously, he also voiced Sgt. Morris in Quake IV, belonging to the Quake franchise, which are rivals with the Unreal franchise. * During a long time he was the placeholder character for Unreal Tournament 4. * Malcolm makes a cameo as a cooperative survivor in Fortnite's "Save the World" mode. His bio is lifted from Unreal Tournament 2003. Speculation It is possible, given Malcolm's affiliation with the Liandri during the Ascension Rites tournament, that this offering was an attempt by the Liandri presence on the planet to get Anubis out of the way without having to pit him against Selket. Selket was already in Liandri's pocket, and while they were probably fairly confident that they could buy Anubis over by manipulating his grief for his dead love (presuming he won the final match to the death against Selket), he was a much less certain thing. So if Liandri could associate Anubis with Thunder Crash, it might prevent him from pushing on to the finals and potentially disrupting their plans to gain political control over the Nakhti planet via Selket, and avoid the potential risk altogether, as well as maintaining both competitors (and their high ratings) without being involved with the Phayder. Early-on, it is established that the Liandri liaison is attempting to decide between Selket and Anubis, and the match leading up to the Selket fight is artificially tilted in Anubis' favor. Most likely, once Anubis refused Malcolm's offer, and Liandri realized Anubis' dedication to his ancestry, they concluded that he couldn't be bought out so easily, and they decided to bank on him being easily manipulated after the finals as a result of his prior relationship with Selket. If this is true, then it is consistent with his actions in Unreal Tournament 3 (where he sells out Reaper and his team to the Phayder Corporation to protect the Izanagi Corporation from potential legal damages caused by Ronin's brash actions), and with the typical Unreal story-telling style, where characters are rarely all good or all evil, but simply act on their own motivations. Malcolm may come off as a heroic character style on the surface, but he knows how to play the game with the corporations. To him the Tournament is simply business, no matter whose lives may be destroyed in the process. External links and references See also * Thunder Crash